The Illinois Poison Control Center posted stories of the 282 calls they took in one day. The calls range from requests for information to emergency room consultations. Here is a small sample:

# An adult female called worried because she took 2 Aleve® for her headache and then noticed that the pills expired 5 years ago.# An adult woman called because a battery leaked out of her personal massager and she was concerned about battery acid burns.# An emergency room called regarding a 29 year old male patient who had chewed and swallowed a fentanyl transdermal patch in an attempt to get high. He was found unresponsive by his mother and brought in via ambulance.# An adult male called concerned about his friend who drank a very large amount of alcohol over the course of the previous evening after losing his job. His friend had vomited numerous times and had very garbled speech but is awake.# An adult female called after she accidentally took 2 of her melatonin tablets.# A 20 year old college student drank 2 Red Bulls® and took 6-7 Ritalin® tablets that belonged to a friend to help her stay awake and concentrate to study for a big exam. She stated she was having palpitations, vomiting and tremors.

This post drew interest from a local TV station, which then did a report on the poison center's funding problems. Incidentally, the nationwide number for poison control is 1-800-222-1222. Link -via Metafilter

"A 24 year old woman called about her boyfriend. The woman had a Brazilian wax at a salon where they had used a numbing cream on the area and now her boyfriend is complaining numb lips, mouth and tongue. He was concerned that he may have ingested some of this numbing cream."

If I had any doubts before, I definitely don't want kids now after reading about all that they put in their mouths! Some of them are sad though, like the wife who found her husband covered in vomit with an empty pill bottle next to him